Mahershala Ali “trained so hard” for ‘Blade’ reboot that he injured himself – and then Marvel cancelled the film

Mahershala Ali has opened up about his cancelled Blade project, describing his routine while waiting a year through Marvel’s delays.

The two-time Oscar winner, known for films such as Moonlight and Green Book, was cast as the popular comic book character in 2019, but faced numerous delays until the project was officially cancelled last month. In a new interview with GQ’s One More Question, he opened up about the ill-fated project, insisting he was ready to begin but was subject to Marvel’s delays.

Looking at his output since Green Book, he reflected: “Blade didn’t happen, which I felt definitely impacted how things unfold in your trajectory”. When asked if he was “saving time” for the role, he said “I wasn’t saving. Once it was happening, I was working on it! I was doing what I needed to do to prepare myself, and it just didn’t happen.”

When asked why, he replied: “That’s a [Marvel chief] Kevin Feige question”, adding “to this day, I don’t know why it didn’t happen. Kevin, he said it was the biggest failure of his career, and I agree.”

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He continued: “I spent a year training, I trained so hard I blew my knee out. I was waiting for them – pushing it back, pushing it back – I’m still training, I’m learning sword work. Name a martial art, I’m training in it. I literally uprooted my family, moved to Atlanta, we’re waiting there ready to go, and they just keep pushing it back, pushing it back… and it doesn’t happen.”

Fans expressed their outrage at the cancellation in August, with one arguing: “How exactly does one fumble Blade so badly?” Another raged: “Marvel cancelled Blade. Knock all this shit over and wrap it up – Fuck’em.”

Last year, it was revealed that Flying Lotus was set to score Blade prior to its hiatus, and eventual cancellation.